The Best Movies to Watch in Your Homeschool This May
May is packed with reasons to press play! From Star Wars Day (May 4th) to Mother’s Day and Cinco de Mayo to Harry Potter Day, this month moves fast! It’s also the time of year when many activities and sports are culminating, filled with games, recitals, and awards.
All these activities and celebrations can leave May feeling like a blur. Squeezing homeschool lessons in can feel like a real chore. That’s why we’ve put together a printable list of movies you can pair up with the biggest celebrations this month to keep learning going.
Whether you’re studying geography and culture while you celebrate Cinco de Mayo or learning Spanish, you’ll love these movie ideas! After all, what could be better than celebrating Harry Potter Day or Star Wars Day with a movie marathon?
This list covers it all because May doesn’t slow down. Kids of all ages will find something worth watching on this list. Mixing these films into your May lesson plans can turn an ordinary afternoon into something the whole family enjoys!
May Movies Make Learning Memorable
Getting a reluctant learner to tune in while you read aloud from a textbook or asking them to complete yet another math worksheet can feel like a real challenge in an already busy month like May. That’s why movies are the perfect way to make lessons memorable and increase retention this month.
Stories that grab your child’s attention in a way no worksheet ever will can teach lessons that last long after the credits roll. Open the conversation with Star Wars Day on May 4th. It’s an easy way to introduce mythology, talk about choices, and learn about heroes and villains.
Sci-fi and fantasy films push kids to think about big ideas like loyalty, sacrifice, and bravery without assigning essays. The best movies can keep questions and conversations going for days!
Star Wars is great, but Harry Potter Day is one of our favorites! The world of wizards blends friendship, creativity, and bravery in a way that creates devoted fans from the most reluctant readers. Get started with the movies and a big bowl of popcorn this May.
Mother’s Day rounds out the month. What could be better than strengthening a connection with movies on the couch? Films that focus on family, moms, and the bonds that hold people together make the day special and add learning without prepping any lesson plans this May.
Why Learning Through Movies Is a Good Idea for May
Let’s face it, by May the finish line is in sight and even those of us who school year-round are ready for a change in pace. The warm weather is calling our names and it’s easy to find yourself pushing through the school day. Movies are the best way to keep learning alive without a fight.
The best movies carry lessons without worksheets and book reports. They don’t require elaborate prep, tests, or comprehension quizzes. You can just press play and let a great story do the work for you. Take the guesswork out with our favorite May films.
Movies Meet Kids Where They Are
May feels like a big transition from spring to summer. The school year is winding down, and suddenly, attention spans are shorter. That’s why it’s the perfect time for movies.
Playing a movie during your homeschool day isn’t checking out. It’s not skipping lessons. Instead, it’s letting great stories do the work for you. You might be surprised by how much more your kids remember about topics touched on in movies than they might from a textbook.
Start a Conversation
Movies start a conversation. You don’t need a discussion guide or comprehension questions. Quizzes and essays aren’t required. Movies naturally facilitate important discussions.
Watch a movie together this May and then ask a question or let your kids ask you a question. The rabbit trail of learning that follows will definitely be worth it! It’s not a quiz; it’s about thinking out loud together.
Add Something Small
I know the temptation to turn a movie into a full-blown unit study is there, and that can be an amazing way to learn! But I want to encourage you to lean into the film this May and just add one small thing to bring the world of the movie into your homeschool day.
This could be a themed movie snack, a simple drawing, or writing out an alternate ending. You don’t have to go too far to make it stick because great movies do that all by themselves.
Turn the Whole Month into Movie Lessons
Add a movie to your May lesson plans early in the month (like for Harry Potter Day on May 2), and you may find out it works really well for your family. Then, you’re in luck! There are lots of excellent holidays and observances you can use to fill up your calendar.
The Best May Movies to Watch in Your Homeschool
The best May movies to watch in your homeschool do the work for everyone! Whether you have kids of all ages or a mix of different learning styles (like most of us!), films are a resource that works well for everyone.
Your visual learner gets lost in the cinematography and special effects. Your auditory learner latches onto the music and dialogue. Your hands-on kid will be outside acting out their favorite scenes before the credits finish rolling. Just pick the right movie, grab the snacks, and let the learning begin with these favorites!
Brave
Brave is a popular animated film that’s great for all ages. It’s a good choice for May because the movie focuses on the relationship between a mother and her daughter. It’s also filled with legends and ancient history.
Encanto
Another movie that’s perfect for May is Encanto. This movie will be a big hit with auditory learners because it’s full of excellent music! Encanto tells the story of a family with unique magic and an important role in their community.
This film goes deeper than a simple “moms are great” message. It explores the sometimes complicated side of family dynamics in a way that kids and parents can both relate to, which makes for many interesting conversations.
Freaky Friday
If you’re looking for something fun and meaningful to watch this May, Freaky Friday is a great pick. This fast-paced, humorous film is especially engaging for kids who enjoy relatable, real-life situations. It follows a mother and daughter who magically switch bodies and are suddenly forced to see life from each other’s perspective.
What makes this movie such a great fit for May is how it goes beyond a simple “appreciate your mom” message. It highlights the everyday misunderstandings that can happen in families and invites kids to think about empathy, communication, and respect in a meaningful way. Watching each character navigate the other’s world opens the door for thoughtful conversations about what it really feels like to walk in someone else’s shoes.
Harry Potter
Ok, I admit it, it’s not just one movie. There are 8 movies in the series. That’s a lot of learning fun for the entire month of May! Harry Potter Day is May 2, but there’s no reason you can’t celebrate all month long.
Here’s the order we recommend:
- Sorcerer’s Stone
- Chamber of Secrets
- Prisoner of Azkaban
- Goblet of Fire
- Order of the Phoenix
- Half-Blood Prince
- Deathly Hallows Part 1
- Deathly Hallows Part 2
You can even turn it into a giant learning adventure with our complete unit study, Waldock’s Wizards & Wands. It’s filled with magical learning adventures for every academic subject and flexible enough to use with kids of all ages.
Homeward Bound
Did you know May is also National Pet Month? There are so many excellent things to learn about this month when it comes to pets. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey is a live-action movie featuring a Golden Retriever, a Bulldog, and Himalayan cat navigating the wilderness in search of their owners. Kids in first grade and up will enjoy this movie.
Inside Out
Inside Out is one of those rare films that works on completely different levels depending on the age of the person watching it. Younger kids get colorful, fast-moving adventures and fun characters. Older children and parents get genuine emotions and deeper meaning than you’d normally expect from an animated film.
The movie follows the emotions living inside an 11-year-old girl’s head as her family navigates a big move. It’s an easy way to talk about feelings, change, and what it means to grow up, a beautiful fit for Mental Health Awareness Month the whole family will love.
Mamma Mia
Except for some of the later Harry Potter movies (which might be too scary for younger kids), most of the movies on this list have been appropriate for all ages. Mamma Mia is different. It’s a genuinely fun Mother’s Day film that won’t feel like “required viewing” for teens.
Built around the music of ABBA, the story follows a young woman in a film that’s light, funny, and surprisingly sincere. Fair warning: the songs will be stuck in everyone’s heads for days, and you might not even mind it!
Marley & Me
Another excellent movie for National Pet Month is Marley & Me. You’ll want the tissues ready for this one! The movie is an adaptation of the book, a beloved memoir that follows a family and their unruly Labrador Retriever through all the beautiful messiness of life.
Marley & Me is funny and warm, and it hits harder than most family films dare to. This film is best for kids ages 10 and up, because Marley’s death is handled honestly.
Red Tails
On the last Monday in May, we celebrate Memorial Day. It’s a day to honor service men and women who sacrificed their lives in the military. Movies can make it easier to talk about challenging topics like this with kids and Red Tails does just that.
Red Tails is based on the true story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II. These brave men faced severe racial discrimination both on the ground and within their own military.
The film follows their combat missions over Europe and their fight to prove themselves in a military and a country that largely didn’t believe in them. This movie is best for kids ages 10 and up because there is considerable combat and intensity on screen.
Want to learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen? Check out our Tuskegee Airmen Mini Unit Study for more engaging activities, printables, and books.
Spare Parts
Few underdog stories are as extraordinary as Spare Parts. It’s the story of four undocumented high school students from Phoenix who build an underwater robot on an $800 budget. Even more amazingly, their robot beat MIT in a national college robotics competition!
If you’re looking for movies to watch together for Cinco de Mayo, this is a great choice for tweens and teens ready to wrestle with bigger questions about belonging, determination, and immigration.
At its core, Cinco de Mayo celebrates resilience and beating the odds against a far stronger opponent. This film also pulls double duty as a STEM lesson, making it a rare pick that checks multiple boxes at once. Pair it up with our STEM Builds USA Discovery Deck for more onscreen learning or our budget-friendly Cinco de Mayo Printable Bundle.
Star Wars
May 4th is a holiday in its own right these days. If you’re going to celebrate it in your homeschool, you might as well go all in! The Star Wars saga spans nine main films plus spinoffs like Rogue One and The Mandalorian.
How to watch them is a hotly debated topic that has divided families for decades! Do you start with A New Hope and watch in release order? Do you go chronologically, beginning with The Phantom Menace?
Beyond the fun, Star Wars is rich territory for homeschool learning. George Lucas built the saga on the framework of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey, which means watching these films can be a masterclass in mythology, storytelling structure, and the archetypes that will show up across every culture and every era of human history.
The Force, the mentor, the dark side, and the reluctant hero are ancient ideas dressed in the best special effects of their generation. The original trilogy is universally family-friendly, and it’s a great starting point for younger kids. However, the prequels and sequels carry darker themes and more intense sequences, so they’re worth previewing first if you have younger children.
Check out our Star Wars Themed Morning Basket for more fun ideas you can use to keep the learning going as you celebrate this month. May the 4th be with you!
The Devil’s Arithmetic
If your high schoolers are studying the Holocaust this year and observing Jewish American Heritage Month, The Devil’s Arithmetic is a must-watch film. It’s based on Jane Yolen’s beloved novel, and we definitely recommend reading the book too.
The Devil’s Arithmetic is the story of a Jewish teenage girl who travels back in time to 1942 Poland, where she experiences the Holocaust firsthand. The time-travel frame makes history feel close without feeling exploitative, and it will definitely hold your full attention. This movie doesn’t shy away from the reality of the Holocaust, which is why it works well for high school students and isn’t recommended for younger viewers.
The Secret Life of Pets
If you’re looking for a fun and light-hearted film for May, The Secret Life of Pets is hard to beat! There’s even a sequel you can watch together if you want to make it a double feature.
This movie imagines what your pets actually get up to the moment you leave for the day, which is a premise that hooks kids immediately. This is the kind of film that earns a rewatch without any complaints.
If you want to stretch it into something more, pair it up with our homeschool Veterinarian Unit Study featuring games, books, crafts, and printables that your animal-loving kids will enjoy.
Turning Red
Finally, Turning Red is a surprisingly layered movie for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The film follows Mei, a thirteen-year-old Chinese girl who turns into a giant red panda whenever her emotions get the better of her. The film is rich with Asian culture and family tradition.
Plus, the mother-daughter dynamic at its center is handled with more honesty than most family films. Middle school girls in particular tend to connect with this one on a level that goes beyond the surface story, and the coming-of-age subtext runs deep, so it’s best for middle school girls.
More Learning Resources for May
May is filled with options for learning through film. There are tons of fun May learning resources to check out outside the movies too. Discover some of our favorites below.
- May Day Mini Unit Study
- The Best Games for Learning in May
- 30+ Best Kids Books to Read in May
- May Homeschool Printables That Are Absolutely Free
Finally, don’t miss our movie-based unit studies for kids who love great stories on screen. We’ve pulled together all your favorites in our Screen-Based Learning Guides.
Do you have a favorite May movie that didn’t make the list? Tell us which movies you’re most excited to watch together in the comments. We can’t wait to discover all your best family movie night suggestions!